Sunday, December 28, 2014

It's the third day of Christmas and also a Sunday. The Sunday after Christmas is a low-attendance Sunday at many churches. It's too bad, because it is a great time to be at church. The exuberant joy of Christmas Sunday and the solemn joy of Christmas Eve have given way to a relaxed joy and people are friendly and welcoming. Advent is over, Christmas has come. There is still the wonder of Christmas carols and the special decorations aren't down yet. It's fun to be there. Try it next year.

I love babies. Everyone who knows me, knows that. So I enjoyed the choir anthem last week, a new one for me. This one about Jesus, in his mother's arms. The King of the Universe, helpless and cared for by a teenage girl and her carpenter husband.

It's a beautiful song, inviting us to look at the baby. And who doesn't like to look at a baby?

Sunday, December 14, 2014

That statment should be so self-evident that it doesn't need to be said, but that is not the case in our hurting and broken world. I am not qualified or knowledgeable enough to comment on any specific case, but the overall picture is one of separation, fear and hostility. It's not supposed to be that way.

Today is the third Sunday in Advent and has also been declared "Black Lives Matter Sunday" by some churches and denominations:

Rev. Debora Jackson of the American Baptist Minister's Council says this on the Council's Facebook page

I want to share this note that churches are coming together to participate in "Black Lives Matter" Sunday on this Sunday, December 14....It seems so appropriate on this 3rd Sunday of Advent that our somber spirits would be lifted through solidarity. We pray that our "purple" of mourning could be turned to the "rose" of joy, united as the body of Christ to proclaim the good news, to release the captives, to help others see, and to liberate the oppressed. Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." I encourage you to acknowledge this coming together in your houses of worship. We as people of faith are called to lead. As Executive Minister Dwight Stinnettnoted in his update from the Great Rivers Region meeting with pastors in St. Louis, "...We are in for the long haul and not for the media moment."

Back in 1982, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney sang a song begging for racial harmony. The lyrics are simple but it was a major hit when it first came out. McCartney wrote the song, planning from the beginning to peform it with Stevie Wonder, a musician he greatly admired.

McCartney had seen a skit in which English Comedian Spike Milligan tried to play a song on a piano with the black and white keys separated...which of course didn't work. He got the idea for the song there.

The songs simple plea for all of us to live together in harmony resonates today. May it be our prayer as well.